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Author
Topic: Side effects of Stribild (Read 7980 times)

Hi, I'm 27 started Stribild for the first time yesterday. I took it in the am with breakfast I had mild nausea no bad,gas, and some bloating. Later at night I started feeling a weird pain in my right side, my right buttocks area front and back and lower stomach its a weird pain, almost like vibrating type, never experience this before. I was awake all night because of the pain. This morning it was better, almost gone so I decided to take stribild a few hours after the pain is back I feel even harder, same area I feel like sometimes I feel it on my head but it comes and goes. I felt a very sharp pain on my left side around my stomach for like a few seconds it was really sharp. I called my Dr's office spoke with the nurse and she was going to speak to the doctor and call me back. Has anybody else experience this?

My doctor put me on Stibild about six weeks ago. The first few weeks I experienced stomach problems that eventually subsided. My body also became bloated and I started developing intense pain in both my arms especially at night. I was hoping that if I stuck with the medication long enough the side effects would eventually work themselves out but unfortunately that was not the case. As of last friday I switched back to my old medications and the intense pain I was feeling in my hands and arms have diminished. They are almost back to normal so it has been my experience that the Stibild was causing the pain.

Have you heard back from your doc, re: Stribild and the possible side effects? I'm doing really well on Atripla, and I've been on it for about 1.5 years, also started treatment very early (within 25 days of contracting the virus, briefly with a different regimen), but I've been approaching the topic of dropping the Sustiva component and replacing it with an integrase inhibitor, much like the one found in Stribild. Dr's position is that you don't mess with a treatment that's working. I feel that the Sustiva is negatively affecting my cholesterol levels. I didn't have it routinely checked as I do now, but they are higher now and I'm convinced that they are due to the meds.

I started Stribild in March. I have had relatively very few side effects if any. I count myself lucky. I do occasionally have bouts of diarrhea and occasional cramping but they go away quickly. I sometimes have brief periods of muscle aches but nothing major. I was more impressed with how quickly my VL dropped when I started. I started approximately 9 weeks after seroconversion. Hope this helps.

I've been taking Stribild daily (one missed dose in January) since December 16. I thought I'd add to this thread, since people search these forums for others' experiences when considering treatments.

Initial thoughts: For the first month or two, I had some weirdishnesses that may or not have been attributed to Stribild but coincided exactly with my having started it.

Center of gravity? Borked.

I was sorta hypomanic (OK, manic) for two or three hours after the pill every day, which I personally (with no proof) attribute to the cobicistat. I had to take it in the morning - at night would mean no sleep.

And, of course, there's the bloating/gas which I gather is from the tenofovir and which seems fairly common. I really hate admitting that, but there you have it.

Side effects: In the last few months, nothing. I take it at 10pm and sleep or don't, but Stribild doesn't seem to have any affect on that. I barely notice I take anything at all anymore except, ugh, the occasional bloatedness. Or rather blOatedness. Is this what women mean when they talk about being bloated monthly? If so, ladies, I apologize for not having bought you more flowers all these years. I still don't eat when I take the pill, and it appears from the literature that this can worsen the problem, meaning, like everything, it's my own damn fault, in which case, "oops".

Rrresults: My VL went from 132,683 to undetectable and CD4 from 920 to 1123 between starting the pill and my second set of labs (despite a rather poor standard of living, I might add). I feel pretty lucky (knock wood), but I gave blood today and will have my third labs back within two weeks. We shall see whether Mr. Stribild has been slacking or if he deserves a present of some kind.

I just started Stribild on May 21, 2013 and the first day was really bad, About 7 hours after taking the meds I became very nauseous and started throwing up and that was pretty much non-stop all night long, Day 2 was a little better but still nauseous and still throwing up a few times again about 6 to 7 hours after taking it. Along with the stomach issues, I have experienced extreme tiredness, Dizziness and Brain Fog as I call it. I thought that maybe some of the other medications I'm on may be having interactions so I skipped taking everything today except for the Stribild and called my doctor for an update and we are thinking that my stomach problems could've been from the Nexium. I don't feel any stomach issues today other than slight nausea which only lasted about an hour earlier today, Still a bit dizzy but the side effects seem to be subsiding. My doctor offered to take me off of the meds and I decided to try and ride it out through the weekend and hope for the best, I don't want to start over with a new medication and have wasted this time all for nothing! I was previously on Kaletra/ Combivir for years which kept my viral load undetectable and my cd4 count in a good range but I couldn't deal with the constant diarrhea and on-going fatigue caused from those meds. Has anyone had any similar side effects from Stribild? If you have how long did it last and did they eventually go away?

You should definitely eat with stribild, and foods high in fat. The pill is 80% more effective when taken with fatty foods!

Ive been on it since february. No side effects.

I'm undetectable and my CD4 is over 1100, so I'm thinking it's about as effective as it can get at this point. When things take a turn for the worse, assuming I make it that far, I'll reconsider this whole "food" thing. I went to the, blech, "supermarket" the other day. How people do this more than once a year with a straight face is beyond me.

I thought that maybe some of the other medications I'm on may be having interactions so I skipped taking everything today except for the Stribild and called my doctor for an update and we are thinking that my stomach problems could've been from the Nexium.

Has anyone had any similar side effects from Stribild? If you have how long did it last and did they eventually go away?

You're right to suspect a strange interaction with Stribild and other drugs. Cobicistat interacts with a lot of things as it inhibits P450 3A liver enzymes. Those are used to clear a lot of things out of the system, so by suppressing them, you're getting the same result as you would from larger doses of those chemicals. That's why it's there: it allows the relatively low dose of elvitegravir in Stribild to be more effective.

I'm sure you have, but be sure your doctor knows every drug you're on, and do your own homework. Stribild isn't new anymore, but doctors still seem unfamiliar with it; the addition of cobicistat puts Stribild in its own class. Other one-a-days don't have PKCs, and the ones that are prescribed separately with other combos are well known and more likely to be seen as 'red flags' with drug interactions. I've been prescribed three things in the last six months that are counter-indicated with Stribild. I brought it each doctor's attention myself because I checked on Google before taking them. Don't assume your doctor knows more than you do about your health and regimen. He/she is an expert but has many patients. You live it, and you're your own primary client.

As for the gastro-intestinal issues, yes, I had them, and they mostly went away. Mostly.

As for interactions with other drugs, after a while, I stopped noticing the "boosting" affect of Stribild on caffeine, for instance, so I forget about it. However, my anti-psychotic dosage was increased today, and it's on the list of things affected by cobicistat. I'm pretty sure what I'm feeling right now (ie, bizarre) is due to an interaction between the new dosage and Stribild, both of which I took about 3 hours ago. I'll get used to it again, I'm sure, but I think anyone taking a pharmacokinetic booster like cobicistat or ritonavir should always be prepared for and on the lookout for interactions with any new drugs or dosage adjustments.

If you'll excuse me now, I can't feel my toes, my brains are on the ceiling, my mouth tastes bitter for no reason, things have gotten a little blurry since I started writing, and I'm going to try to sleep this off. Good luck.

I'm starting Stribild due to the fact that I went from undetectable to a VL of 50 recently. My doctor feels that because I was given Complera after my VL already spiked over 100K+ that there was potential failure of me staying on it.

I'm officially starting Stribild tomorrow and am pretty nervous about the side effects because I didn't really have any on Complera besides moodiness in the beginning when I didn't eat.

I'm now on day 5 of Stribild and I have to say things are so much better today! No side effects so far today! I am definately Not missing the stomach upset or the vomiting and my appetite is getting back to normal. Now if I could just tackle this morning schedule that would be great! I am not a morning person at all, Having worked mostly the midnight shifts at most of the jobs I've had and gotten used to that schedule it's hard to break that cycle. I have told my doctors about my other medications I'm on and they still didn't come up with any red flags or seen any reported interactions but during my own research I found some significant interactions, So now I'm going to try and reintroduce some of my medications 1 medication each day at a time, Such as my heart and cholesterol meds as far as Nexium goes I'm going to look for an alternative to replace that as I feel that interaction is what was causing alot of my side effects. I'm feeling much better and hope that my viral load goes back to undetectable levels and my CD4 will skyrocket! Lol My last blood labs were drawn in April 2013... Viral Load 16,268 CD4 390, I'm hoping to be undetectable again real soon and have my CD4 count go atleast above 780 that's the highest it's even been since I was first diagnosed in 2000. I have never been very good at Medication Adherence but as I am now 40 years old and the virus has several mutations, (with no resistance to any medications) I think it's time to stay on meds for the long term and get back to living a normal healthy life! I just realized the other day that I've been positive for 13 years now, I don't really give it much thought most days, I've been really lucky that I haven't had really any serious illnesses so far! When I was first diagnosed back in 2000 my Viral Load was just barely under 1 million. Stribild seems to be the easiest medication I've tried as far as how quickly the side effects subsided and the least amount of them as well, I hope there are no long term effects in the future and it helps to keep me healthy, Once a day medication is the best! I don't miss 5 and 6 pills 2 or 3 times a day. Peace and health to all!

Now if I could just tackle this morning schedule that would be great! I am not a morning person at all, Having worked mostly the midnight shifts at most of the jobs I've had and gotten used to that schedule it's hard to break that cycle.

Hey, Keith. Do you mean the morning schedule as in taking Stribild in the morning because of its particular affects on you?

If so, or if that's anyone else's case, it might be helpful to know that, at least for me, the side effects lessen over time. I think I said in this thread (or somewhere) that I used to have to take it in the morning because of the rush of energy. I take it at 10PM now, because I don't notice that anymore at all.

Oh, and, obviously, I survived last night, but I slept until 3PM. It's not the Stribild. It's the risperidone, though Stribild (cobicistat) can increase the effects of that drug. I just went up a level yesterday, and I still feel like I'm asleep right now even. Ugh.

Oh wow, have you checked in with your doctor about it? My doc mentioned this and vomiting which got me quite nervous because I have no symptoms currently on Complera.

My new pharmacy is closed on the weekend so I have to stick it out on Complera until Monday.

PozGuy, from what I gather, Stribild has a slightly higher (though still very low) incidence of gastrointestinal side effects as compared to the other one-a-days but is much lower in other side effect categories, such as dizziness, abnormal dreams, insomnia. Here are some results when compared to Atripla, which is similar-ish to Complera.

For what it's worth, I think you're worried over not too much, but that'll be between you and your doctor once all is said and done. I praise all the prophets every single day that I was given the option of Stribild and didn't have to take Atripla or Complera, which strike me as kind of terrible. To each his own, and "yay, science" that we have options.

For the record, I have not once vomited, and I don't recall any nausea while on Stribild, though I can't swear to it. I don't remember it ever being "a thing". I've had gas like I didn't know was possible, and let's not underplay how irritating that can be, but nothing more serious than that. I've been on it, wow, almost six months now. Of course, it's been around in the wild outside of tests only since last August, so...

PozGuy, from what I gather, Stribild has a slightly higher (though still very low) incidence of gastrointestinal side effects as compared to the other one-a-days but is much lower in other side effect categories, such as dizziness, abnormal dreams, insomnia. Here are some results when compared to Atripla, which is similar-ish to Complera.

For what it's worth, I think you're worried over not too much, but that'll be between you and your doctor once all is said and done. I praise all the prophets every single day that I was given the option of Stribild and didn't have to take Atripla or Complera, which strike me as kind of terrible. To each his own, and "yay, science" that we have options.

For the record, I have not once vomited, and I don't recall any nausea while on Stribild, though I can't swear to it. I don't remember it ever being "a thing". I've had gas like I didn't know was possible, and let's not underplay how irritating that can be, but nothing more serious than that. I've been on it, wow, almost six months now. Of course, it's been around in the wild outside of tests only since last August, so...

I was on Atripla for 3 days and personally couldn't take the nightmares, nausea, dizziness and LSD-like emotional trips (No meds for me with Sustiva in it EVER again). Complera had no side effects on me whatsoever besides the minor moodiness in the beginning actually. I also am opposed to any Protease Inhibitors due to all the bowel problems I've heard people have on them. I would stay on Complera forever if given a choice.

My new doctor said my viral load was way too high when I started Complera so there is a chance of failure because I recently went from undetectable to VL 50 (I take my meds religiously, so she was really concerned).

I have never had vomiting problems ever with HIV, vomiting and nausea always makes me quite nervous but because I'm switching off NNTRI's anything is possible. I hope for the best!

I've been taking Stribild for 3 weeks now and my side effects were pretty mild, but similar to what Oksikoko described. I decided 8 PM would be the time I take my doses, so I could sleep off any side effects. I had some insomnia, anxiety & a bit of mania in the beginning and thought about making the time earlier. But I stuck to my routine and kept it at 8 PM.

Now I hope this isn't TMI, but we're all grown adults here... I had some gastrointestinal problems, diarrhea and loose stools for the first week or so, but that seems to have subsided and everything is back to normal now. I didn't want to be so quick to blame the meds because my stomach is VERY sensitive and easily thrown out of balance. Gas & bloating was not a problem, thankfully. If Stribild is affecting your digestion, I would suggest drinking kefir or kombucha tea, or taking probiotics periodically. That might help.

I also had some mild dizziness in the beginning, usually the following morning, but that seems to have gone away. My body seems to be adjusting quite well. Now I hardly notice any side effects. I do feel fatigued now & then, but I attribute that to the fact my immune system is occupied, not the meds themselves.

Texaninnyc said what I was gonna say about the importance of taking it with food. If that's not possible, then the next best thing would be a light snack, like cookies, potato chips or a granola bar.

You should definitely eat with stribild, and foods high in fat. The pill is 80% more effective when taken with fatty foods!

Texan is right. (Note to self: eat mac & cheese with meds)

"Food enhances the oral bioavailabilities of elvitegravir and tenofovir. When a single dose of [Stribild] was given with a light meal (approximately 373 kcal; 20% fat), mean elvitegravir and tenofovir systemic exposures (AUCs) increased by 34% and 24%, respectively, relative to fasting conditions. When administered with a high-fat meal (approximately 800 kcal; 50% fat), the mean AUC of elvitegravir and tenofovir increased by 87% and 23%, respectively, relative to fasting conditions. The alterations in mean AUCs of cobicistat and emtricitabine were not clinically significant with either the light or high-fat meal."

Just switched to Stribild (really wish it was still called "Quad") yesterday from norvir-boosted Reyataz / Truvada. Was getting a little panicky reading about various people's experience, but so far so good. I did feel pretty edgy, maybe a touch manic, an hour or so after but still went to the gym. I noticed some dizziness there. But later it wore off and I slept really well without taking anything, except for unusually vivid dreams (and I tend to be a light sleeper, often taking ambien or klonopin). No gas, bloating or anything GI related - which is actually the main reason I switched. Took second pill this morning with breakfast and no manic feeling and everything seems fine. So that's my experience so far.

DEFINITELY this medication should be taken with food for bioavailability.

Was getting a little panicky reading about various people's experience, but so far so good.

DEFINITELY this medication should be taken with food for bioavailability.

Why panicky? Everything I've read on this board has been positive regarding Stribild.

Food: I don't think a person should count Stribild out just because they don't plan to eat with their pill. Maybe it's just me, but it seems everyone's all hung up on this point. It's like a cult... Everyone is different. Perhaps some people don't want the increased bioavailability because they do just fine without having it raised by a fatty meal. Perhaps some people don't have regular access to meals. Perhaps some people just don't want to eat that much. Stribild can still work for them.

2013 - considering a switch to Stribild. but I love my Kidneys (but I hate farting all the time!)...

Oh, yeah, I meant to add this. Brother, I hope you have better luck than me, but I'm having to take about 320mg of simethicone every day to deal with this. It works, but if I forget it, well, "ew"... Just "ew". I read somewhere it's one of the NRTIs, but I can't remember if it's emtricitabine or tenofovir or both that's to blame. Or if that was even a reliable source, ha.

After for years with truvada norvir and Reyataz I switch to stribild in December and no side effects so far. After one month on the medication my cd went up to 700 the first time in four years. I take it in the morning with breakfast sometime with couple of toast and coffee

I wanted to thank everyone for sharing there experiences about Stribild and other topics through out the site. I had huge anxiety, due to being a quasi non progressor for almost twenty years (no opportunistic infections, tcells over 300 typically, with variations of tcells and viral load overtime, yet a some what slow creeping increase of the vl the last few years.

Last year, while insured with Kaiser, they started a big push on treating even if your tcells were above 350-500. Being from the 'wait n see' generation i was somewhat skeptical, although I made an agreement with my Dr. to start treatment with in a year. After being laid off, loosing my house and health insurance the year was up last month.

This website made it a little easier for me to take that first pill, while I know I've been lucky and fortune the mental toll I put on myself was taking year over year. I'm happy to report the Stribild is working with my system.

My side effects lasted about 4-5 weeks. As a few others posted the first couple days were more noticeable but tolerable (not working right now). I had head aches and shooting pings of pain in my joints, arms, and legs. The pain was brief and tolerable with a couple exceptions. The fatigue lasted a good month (doc and other poz told me the meds and my system had almost 20 years to catch up on).

Thank you to all those before me, with me, and courage to those (after me) to make the right choice for themselves. I had a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. I'm taking care of myself, treating other chronic health issues (too many, and too boring to list).